PRESENTER: Presenter
Jordan Matney, Deputy City Manager
Garry Ford, Transportation & Construction Services Director
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SUBJECT: Title
Presentation and update on the Transportation & Construction Services Department reorganization and proposed amendments to the Code of Ordinances of the City of New Braunfels to streamline fence permits and allow a new plumbing code concept.
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DEPARTMENT: Transportation & Construction Services
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COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: All
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Transportation & Construction Services Department
The Transportation & Capital Improvements and Planning & Development Services Departments were reorganized to realign development responsibilities and streamline permitting operations. The reorganization combined cross-department permitting teams into the Development Services Division, providing a more unified and efficient approach to development and project delivery. The new division is in the renamed Transportation & Construction Services (TCS) Department and will be managed by a dedicated Assistant Director. City staff will provide an update on the reorganization and internal workshops aimed at identifying process improvements.
Fences
Staff consistently reviews permitting procedures to identify redundancies and other opportunities to streamline processes, reduce workload, and shorten turnaround times. Fence permits have been identified as one such opportunity.
There are a variety of different types of fences desired by property owners. Some are predominantly open, such as chain-link or wrought iron. Others are solid screens using materials such as wood pickets or pre-cast concrete. Some fences are required, such as those intended to secure swimming pools or to buffer commercial uses from residential, while others are desired by property owners to simply delineate their property boundaries or to control access.
Presently, all fences require building permits; some fence repair also requires permits. Depending on the fence type and location, there are various rules to comply with. The rules are basic and relatively consistent with most other jurisdictions, so compliance is straightforward. If the requirement to obtain a permit were eliminated for most fence types, that would create capacity for Plans Examiners to focus on other, more complex permit types, reducing overall turnaround time.
Bathrooms
When the City adopted the 2021 International Building Codes, a local amendment removed allowance for a new concept in public commercial bathrooms. The 2021 codes allow for unisex bathrooms with secured and concealed toilets, but with handwashing sinks in a common area. This allowance was removed for New Braunfels at the recommendation of the local committee reviewing the 2021 codes ahead of adoption; however, builders and developers have requested to take advantage of this universal allowance.
ISSUE:
Fences
The attached draft edits to the International Building and Residential Codes and the Zoning Ordinance would result in permits for fences only being required for:
1. Fences built to secure swimming pools
2. Fences 7 feet tall or taller
3. Fences proposed to be built in drainage easements
4. Fences proposed to be built in the floodplain
Bathrooms
The attached draft edits to the International Plumbing Code would allow relatively new and innovative public bathroom concepts, creating more options for development.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN REFERENCE:
Action 1.11: Update policies and codes to achieve development patterns that implement the goals of this plan
Action 3.6: Proactively provide a regulatory environment that remains business and resident-friendly.
STRATEGIC PLAN REFERENCE:
☒Economic Mobility ☐Enhanced Connectivity ☐Community Identity
☐Organizational Excellence ☐Community Well-Being ☐N/A
FISCAL IMPACT:
N/A
Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the draft amendments related to fence permits and unisex bathrooms.
ATTACHMENT:
Please note:
• Black text is existing code wording.
• Blue underlines denote additions.
• Red strikethroughs denote deletions.
• A string of asterisks denotes skipped sections with no proposed edits.